Newcastle Jets are looking like prime wooden spoon candidates after their defeat to Central Coast Mariners.

Published

9 April 2017

Central Coast Mariners moved off the bottom of the A-League with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle Jets in Sunday's F3 derby at Central Coast Stadium.

Goals from Nick Montgomery and Fabio Ferreira sealed bragging rights for the home side and helped them to leapfrog the Jets and Adelaide United into eighth spot in the table.

The visitors had been unbeaten in the last seven derby meetings but mustered only two shots on target across the 90 minutes as they slumped to a fifth defeat in a row.

Jets defender Jason Hoffman forced a save from Paul Izzo after just two minutes but the Mariners took a deserved lead half an hour later, Montgomery drilling a superb first-time shot into the bottom-left corner after being teed up on the edge of the area by Connor Pain.

The Jets looked for a leveller early in the second half but were undone by a clinical counter-attack with 52 minutes played, Pain racing clear down the left wing before squaring the ball to Ferreira, who clipped a clever finish over Jack Duncan and into the net.

The Mariners saw out a deserved win with little trouble, with the breaking of a storm in the closing stages doing little to dampen the celebrations of the home fans who had last enjoyed a derby win 911 days ago.

The Jets, who have endured a dismal run since February and now sit bottom, head into their final match of the campaign against Sydney FC needing at least a draw to have a good chance of avoiding the wooden spoon.